USA > Indiana > Elkhart County > A standard history of Elkhart County, Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development, Volume II > Part 45
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After the termination of his admirable military career Mr. Arnold returned to his native county, where he continued to be engaged in farming and in conducting a successful business as a contractor and builder until 1883, in which year he came with his family to the City of Elkhart, where he long held precedence as a leading contractor and retired from active business in 1806 and his death occurred in the year 1911, as previously noted in this context.
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He was a stalwart advocate of the principles of the democratic party and perpetuated the memories of his military career through his active affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic.
Ethan L. Arnold was a lad of about eight years at the time of the family removal to Elkhart, and here he continued his studies in the public schools until he had completed the curriculum of the high school. At the age of sixteen years he began the work of prepar- ing himself for the profession in which he has achieved signal suc- cess and precedence. He entered the law office of Chamberlain & Turner, under the preceptorship of which he continued his studies until 1900, when he passed the required examination and was ad- mitted to the bar of Indiana, in all of whose courts he is now eligible for practice. He remained with his preceptors and was associated with them in practice until 1902, when he formed a professional alliance with Forrest E. Hughes, with whom he has since been asso- ciated in active general practice, under the firm name of Hughes & Arnold. His success has been based upon effective service and he is known as both a resourceful trial lawyer and well fortified counselor. He has appeared in connection with much of the impor- tant litigation in the courts of this section of the state within the past fifteen years and has at all times stood exemplar of the best ethical ideals of his exacting and responsible profession.
Mr. Arnold gives unqualified allegiance to the democratic party and has been influential in its local councils and campaign activities. He has served since 1910 as a member of the Elkhart board of public works, and is counsel for the local organization of the Lincoln Highway Association. He has been deeply interested in the good roads movement nad has done much to further the same in Elkhart County. Mr. Arnold is actively identified with the Elkhart County Bar Association and the Indiana State Bar Association ; he is a trustee of the Century Club, one of the representative civic organiza- tions of his home city, and is affiliated with Elkhart Lodge, No. 425, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
On the 28th of April, 1900, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Arnold to Miss Lottie Rhoades, who was born in St. Joseph County, Michigan, and they have six children, namely : Elizabeth. Leon, Lewis, Alvin, Helen, and Marguerite.
FRANK J. NEFF. A highly respected citizen of Elkhart County, where he has spent all his life, Frank J. Neff is an expert painter and employed his energies in that trade for many years, but is now giving his full time and attention to his duties as superintendent of the Grace Lawn Cemetery at Elkhart.
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He was born on a farm in Middlebury Township of Elkhart County, August 13, 1874. It was his grandfather, Moses Neff, who came from Hancock County, Ohio, and established the family in Elkhart County in 1861, locating in Middlebury Township, where he bought a tract of timbered land and devoted the rest of his years to the task of clearing it up and the cultivation of his land as a general farmer. Abram Neff, father of Frank J., was born in Hancock County in 1848 and was thirteen years of age when brought to Elkhart County. He had a natural gift for mechanics, and accordingly left the farm and was employed for a time in a sawmill and later went to Goshen, where he was engaged in making fence machinery. He is still living at Goshen and is now machinist in the Goshen Novelty Works. He married Hattie Eldridge, who was born in Middlebury Township. Her father, John Eldredge, who married a Miss Lorimer, was an early settler in Middlebury Township, where he bought a tract of timbered land and spent many years in clearing and developing its resources. Late in life he moved to Bristol, where he lived retired until his death. Abram Neff and wife had two sons, and Ira, the first born, is a machinist in Goshen.
Frank J. Neff acquired his early education in Middlebury Town- ship and at Goshen. As a youth he served a thorough apprentice- ship both as a house painter and as a carriage painter, and followed the latter trade for about twenty-five years in Goshen and Elkhart. It was an occupation which made heavy strain upon his health, and he finally sought out-of-door employment and accepted his present position as superintendent of the Grace Lawn Cemetery in 1914.
In 1897 he married Miss Lillie May Strine, who was born in Middlebury Township, a daughter of Adam and Susan (Cripe) Strine. Her maternal grandfather was Joseph Cripe, one of the prominent early settlers of Middlebury Township and a member of that Cripe family that has been so closely identified with pioneer affairs in Elkhart County. Mr. and Mrs. Neff have three children, named Florence, Harold and Albert. His family are members of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Neff is a member of the insurance order of the Illinois Bankers' Association.
ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, GOSHEN. Nestling in ample shade, in a choice portion of the best residence section of the picturesque city of Goshen, is the old substantial brick church of the parish of St. John, founded by the missionary priests from Notre Dame, who, in the early part of the last century spread the faith through northern Indiana. The Rt. Rev. Julian Benoit, V. G., that true French mis-
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sionary, who did so much for Indiana Catholicity, was the first priest to visit Goshen. He said mass for the early Irish and Ger- man pioneers in the old courthouse, and in private residences in the early forties. Other priests who followed Father Benoit in mission- ary visits were Rev. Alexander Granger, C. S. C., Very Rev. Edward Sorin, C. S. C., Rev. Henry Vincent Schaefer.
The church was built in 1860, the devoted congregation number- ing about thirty families at that time, scattered widely over the center of Elkhart county, making great sacrifices to build the edifice. But they built substantially and well, so that the structure of today, though old, presents a beautiful interior and a substantial, venerable exterior.
The work of erecting the church in 1860 was under the direction of Rev. Henry Vincent Schaefer, who had charge of Avilla and its missions. The first pastor was Rev. Frederick J. Holz from 1860 to 1861. Following Father Holz the church was attended by Rev. A. B. Oechtering, Rev. Duehmig, Rev. Storr and others, and Rev. H. Meissner became the resident pastor from 1868 until the spring of 1871. Rev. J. H. Quinlan of Elkhart and Rev. M. F. Noll attended the congregation after Father Meissner's time, and Rev. H. A. Broeckelmann was resident pastor from 1878 to 1880. Rev. A. J. Kroeger, now of Logansport, was a resident pastor from 1880 to 1887, Rev. Adam Buchheit from 1887 to 1889, and Rev. S. M. Yenn, from 1889 to 1900, Rev. F. A. King and Rev. W. S. Hogan from September, 1902, to February, 1903, Rev. J. B. Fitzpatrick from 1903 to 1907, Rev. L. A. Eberle, from 1907 to 1911, when he was appointed to Chesterton and succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. Gustav Hottenroth.
Soon after the coming of Father Hottenroth, he applied himself to the renovation of the church and supplying many things needed for the parish edifice. He began his work at Goshen July 1, 19II. He found a parish of about 400 souls in his new charge with a mission at Millersburg to attend to. The school at Goshen has sev- enty-eight pupils at present which taxes it to its utmost for room. The parishioners are about evenly divided, half of them Irish descent and half of German descent.
Some of the pioneers of St. John's, who were well up in years when this article was written, were Thomas Collins, Louis Niner, Joseph Kranz, Charles Frederick Thiele, who is probably the best qualified historian of the parish, having lived in Goshen since 1868, Michael Miller, Pat Maloney, Christian Angel, James McCaffrey, Joseph Gallagher, Mrs. Kate Zimmerman, Pauline Fredeke, Caro- line Steinmetz, John Trainor, Mary Rigney, Helen Collins, and Nancy Keim, the oldest member in the parish, age ninety-one.
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Since then have gone to their reward the following pioneers of St. John's Church: Joseph Kranz, who died November 1, 1912, age 76; Pat Maloney, who died March 8, 1913, age 72; Kate Zim- merman, who died July 30, 1913, age 81 ; Thomas Collins, who died November 22, 1913, age 86; Pauline Fredeke, who died March 16, 1914, age 80; Caroline Steinmetz, who died October 18, 1914, age 84; Michael Miller, who died December 1, 1914, age 61 ; Louis Niner, who died December 15, 1914, age 85; John Trainor, who died April II, 1915, age 70; Mary Rigney, who died May 6, 1915, age 72 ; Helen Collins, who died February 27, 1916, age 80.
The various church societies of St. John's are: The Holy Name Society for married men and also for the young men of the parish, 55 members; the Rosary Society for married women, 60 members ; Im- maculate Conception Sodality for the young ladies, 35 members; Children of Mary Sodality for the school children, boys and girls, 70 members.
St. John's Church has prospered greatly during the past ten years. Many repairs and improvements have been made on the buildings, including the installation of a heating plant .- Taken from the Indiana Catholic.
REV. GUSTAVE HOTTENROTH during the last five years has been pastor of St. John's Catholic Church in Goshen. It is almost twenty years since he was ordained a priest in Indiana and in that time he has made a notable record for organization, improvement and gen- eral leadership in the various parishes to which he has been assigned.
Born at Hundeshagen, Eichsfeld, Saxony, Germany, August 19, 1872, he is a son of John and Margaret ( Humburg) Hottenroth. As a boy he attended the parochial schools of his native village, fol- lowing that with a course in the College of St. Charles near Aix- la-Chapelle, and completed his course in philosophy at Liege, Belgium. In November, 1893, Father Hottenroth came to America and continued his theological studies in St. Meinrad's Seminary, in Spencer County, Indiana, an institution conducted by the Benedictine Fathers. At the seminary on May 30, 1896, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Chatard of Indianapolis, and assigned to the diocese of Fort Wayne. His first appointment was as assistant priest to Rt. Rev. Oechtering, V. G., at St. Mary's Church, Fort Wayne. For fifteen years Father Hottenroth was a faithful assistant to his pastor, Rt. Rev. Mgr. Oechtering from July, 1896, to July 1, 1911. Bishop Herman Joseph Alerding appointed him pastor of St. John's Church, Goshen.
Since coming to Goshen, Father Hottenroth has been espe-
Rev. G. Hottenroth,
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cially energetic in effecting numerous material improvements to the church property, besides strengthening the work and influence of the parish in general. A new roof has been put on the sisters' resi- dence, furnace and other equipment supplied about the buildings, and many hundreds of dollars have been spent on church furniture, repairs to the parish house, to the sisters' home and for paving the street in front of the church and parochial residence. During the summer of 1916 South Third Street, facing the school and the sisters' home, was paved, costing the parish approximately $600.
Since July 1, 1911, up to January 1, 1916. Father Hottenroth with the aid of his parishioners and the assistance of his church trustees, R. W. Collins, E. Everett and J. Ambos -- not to forget his many ,and faithful friends-has raised the sum of $16,745.59. During this time about $1,000 were spent for repairs and $2.477.73 for improvements.
Much has been done to beautify and renovate the St. John's Church, as the following article revised from one that appeared in the local press will indicate. Rev. Father Eberle, now in Chester- ton, was a zealous worker who was always doing something for the betterment of the church property. He had the church lawn laid out, put in brick and cement sidewalks, made a small park in the rear of the church building and put in a new boiler for the heating plant which also furnished heat for the pastor's residence. Father Eberle also acquired for the church one of the handsomest ban- ners in the diocese-a beautiful work of art in honor of the Blessed Virgin.
"Father Hottenroth, when he came to St. John's church, Goshen, began to make many needed improvements. Since his coming he has decreased the church debt, which was about three thousand dollars when he arrived. He has made improvements in the meantime aggregating approximately a thousand one hundred dollars. A new roof has been put on the Sisters' residence, the barn has been roofed and repaired and other minor repairs made. Tasteful frescoing has been done in the church. The fresco- ing and lettering is very artistic and classic and worthy of the finest church in the diocese. The entire interior was beautified under the direction of Father Hottenroth and a splendid set of new Stations of the Cross, the gift of Mrs. Catherine Green and son Gerald of Goshen, were installed and dedicated. This set of Sta- tions were given by Mrs. Green and her son in memory of the husband and father, Raymond Green, who died September 6, 1911, and who was received into the Catholic church ten days before his death.
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"Another handsome acquisition was a new holy water font given by the Children of Mary of St. John's parish. It is sur- mounted by an angel and is much admired. A fine sanctuary lamp, costing approximately a hundred dollars was also recently given to the church by a friend of Father Hottenroth. The school children presented new doors for the church, massive and handsome, which were much needed. A new sanctuary carpet, at sixty-six dollars and cork matting at seventy-one dollars, have also been donated to Father Hottenroth by two friends.
"Father Hottenroth has many friends among the clergy of the diocese who have remembered St. John's with many needed things and he and his congregation are very grateful to the clerical and lay donors, who have been so thoughtful. Rev. Dean Moench of Mishawaka, and Rt. Rev. J. H. Oechtering of Fort Wayne are among those who have helped Father Hottenroth to add to the furnishings of the interior, a fine ceborium, a confessional and vest- ments being among their gifts. A new monstrance imported from France valued at one hundred seventy-five dollars, was a gift to the church, the name of the donor being withheld.
"The sisters in charge of the school at Goshen are Sister Othilia, the Sister Superior, teacher of the higher classes; Sister Pius, teacher of music; Sister Berno, who teaches the primary grades ; and Sister Irenaeus.
"The first school building was erected in 1867 by the zealous and beloved Father Meissner at the moderate cost of five hundred dollars. It was taught by lay teachers. In 1881 Rev. A. J. Kroeger built a substantial brick school at a cost of one thousand one hun- dred dollars. In that year the Sisters of the Holy Cross were engaged to teach the children and the school began to flourish. The school building is located west of the church on the corner of Third and Monroe streets, and its dimensions are 30x40 feet. The St. Joseph's Society, a parish organization established in 1892, always gave strong support to the school, and did much to cooperate with Catholic education in the parish. In 1889 the school was attended by fifty-seven children and its attendance is now between seventy and eighty, and it is taught through eight grades by three sisters of the Holy Cross. Since 1903 the school has been main- tained and kept up by free offerings of the parish, taken up in the church once a month, the fourth Sunday, and thus the school has become really a free school. Upon the arrival of the sisters, Father Kroeger gave his frame residence for their accommodation, and lived in a rented house until he had provided the present brick residence for the priest."
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In addition to his work as pastor of St. John's Church, Goshen, Father Hottenroth also attends the mission, St. Henry's, at Millers- burg.
FRANK H. KNAPP. Among the men whose start in life has been gained in Elkhart County, but whose talents and abilities have car- ried them to other localities, is Frank H. Knapp. Mr. Knapp is a product of the Elkhart County schools, passed his boyhood, youth and early manhood here in farming and public service, and in 1884 removed to Chicago, his present home, where he is widely and favor- ably known in fraternal circles. He served 13 years as advisory scribe for the State of Illinois, Royal League, and was one of the original incorporators of the Vesta Circle in 1901 and has served the society as supreme scribe continuously since that time.
Mr. Knapp was born in Ontario County, New York, on the farm of his grandfather, September 15, 1849. This property is still owned by the Knapp family and there have been but three transfers of the land since the Government patent was issued. His father, William Henry Knapp, was born on this farm in 1818, and was reared as a farmer boy, securing his education in the public schools and stibse- quently engaging in agriculture on his own account. In April, 1849, seeking his fortune in the West, Mr. Knapp removed to Middlebury Township, Elkhart County, Indiana, where he located as a pioneer farmer one and one-half miles south of the Village of Middlebury. In addition to being a skilled, practical and progressive farmer, he was a lover of fine horses, and the breeding of standard stock also occupied a large part of his attention. An industrious and energetic man, he accumulated a satisfying property, and at the time of his death was one of the substantial agriculturists of his locality. Mr. Knapp was a member of the Baptist Church and was well known for his integrity and honorable dealing. In his early life he gave his allegiance to the whig political party, and with the birth of the republican organization entered actively into the affairs of the Grand Old Party. While he neither held nor cared to hold pub- lic office, he was an energetic worker in behalf of the candidacy of his friends and those whom he believed best fitted for service, and frequently visited the homes of his neighbors on election days, where he would fill in with a helping hand in the work of the farm, in order that they might go to the polls and vote. He died, honored and re- spected, in 1870. Mr. Knapp was married in New York to Miss Catherine Eliza Mattison, also a native of the Empire State, born in 1820, who died in 1870, and they became the parents of two sons: Leonard A. and Frank H. Leonard A. Knapp was born October
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15, 1842, was educated in the public schools and grew up on the home farm, and shortly after the outbreak of the Civil war enlisted, in May, 1861, in Company E, Twenty-eighth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry. He was a courageous and faithful soldier and participated in all the engagements and movements of his regiment until fatally wounded at Antietam, September 17, 1862, dying in a fortnight in the private home of a Quaker family on the Pennsyl- vania-Maryland line, where his father had taken him a few days prior to his demise.
Frank H. Knapp was only two months of age when taken to Elkhart County by his mother to join the father, and there he grew up amid agricultural surroundings, assisting his father in the work of the home farm and obtaining his education in the proverbial red schoolhouse of the district school in Middlebury Township. Later he furthered his training by attendance at the high schools of Mid- dlebury and Goshen, and when twenty-one years of age began farm- ing for himself, continuing to be so engaged for five or six years. His first public service was in the capacity of assistant deputy under Col. Alba M. Tucker, county auditor of Elkhart County, later he was made deputy county treasurer under George W. Rich, and also served as assistant in the county clerk's, county recorder's and sher- iff's offices. His abilities in these capacities had by this time been firmly established and in 1884 he was called to Chicago to become private secretary for the late W. G. Wilson, a capitalist and presi- dent of the Wilson Sewing Machine Company. Mr. Knapp con- tinued to act in this position until Mr. Wilson's death, about ten years later, when he was employed by the Illinois Trust and Savings Bank as assistant in settling the Wilson and other estates. This work occupied him for about four years, when he was elected ad- visory scribe of the Royal League for the State of Illinois, a position which he held continuously until 1911. In that year he assumed the active duties of the office of supreme scribe of the Vesta Circle, one of the highest offices in the society. He is also connected with numerous other fraternities. Mr. Knapp has been a lifelong re- publican.
On September 14, 1872, Mr. Knapp was married to Miss Jenny Lind Chamberlain, who was born in the City of Goshen, Indiana, February 21, 1851, daughter of Judge E. M. Chamberlain of Goshen, and a cousin of ex-Gov. Gen. Joshua L. Chamberlain of Maine. Mrs. Knapp died December 27, 1893, at Chicago, leaving one daugh- ter: Christine Nilsson, now the wife of Joseph H. Henderson, of Chicago, and mother of two children-Frank L. and Lucian F. Davis.
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ROYAL DEFOE MILLER. The senior member of the well known firm of Noble & Miller, dealers in boots and shoes, of Goshen, In- diana, is Royal De Foe Miller, one of the enterprising younger busi- ness men of the town. Mr. Miller has spent his life thus far in Goshen, and enjoys an excellent reputation and standing among the people who have known him all his life. He was born here on December 10, 1874, and is a son of W. H. and Rosalie (Bowser) Miller.
W. H. Miller was born in Elkhart County, Indiana, in 1841, and his father, Samuel R. Miller, grandfather of the subject, was one of the earliest pioneers to Elkhart County. He was a farming man all his life, and the farm he developed in the wilderness region of In- diana became one of the finest in the state. His son, W. H., inherited it, and spent some time there, but later moved to Goshen. He was educated in Goshen schools and Hillsdale College, in Hillsdale County, Michigan, and following his college training he returned to Goshen and became deputy postmaster under William Bevans. While thus occupied he was nominated on the democratic ticket for the office of recorder of Elkhart County, and was elected, being the first democrat chosen to fill a county office in Elkhart County. When his term of office expired Mr. Miller retired to Goshen, where he engaged in business permanently and he died there on July 21, 1915.
Royal DeFoe Miller had his education in the schools of Goshen and when he had finished his high school course he was employed by C. D. Frederickson, a boot and shoe dealer. For eleven years he was employed with that firm, and much of the success he has en- joyed in a business of his own came as a result of the excellent train- ing he had with Mr. Frederickson. When he left that position Mr. Miller formed a partnership with a Mr. Noble, under the firm name of Noble & Miller, and they launched a new shoe business in Goshen. They occupy a store at 131 Main Street, and the firm carries one of the largest and best selected stocks in the county. The store is well equipped and ably managed by its progressive and up-to-date own- ers, and both men are popular in business circles of the city. Like Mr. Miller, his partner, Mr. Noble, is also a native of Elkhart County.
Mr. Miller was married in 1903 to Miss Jane Betner of Goshen, Indiana. She is a daughter of Wiliam S. Betner, an old and much esteemed resident of the place. One daughter, Jannal B., has been born to the Millers.
The family is one that stands high in social circles of the city, and Mr. Miller is prominent in the Knights of Pythias and Tono- wando Tribe No. 130 Independent Order of Royal Masons.
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ANTHONY C. HUNT. A surviving veteran of the Civil war, and a resident of Elkhart County almost continuously for over fifty-five years, Anthony C. Hunt is one of the honored old timers, and is now spending his declining years in peace and ease at his home in Nap- panee.
A resident of Elkhart County since he was twelve years of age, he was born on a farm in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, November 21, 1838. His father was James C. Hunt, a native of Pitsburg, Ohio. The grandfather Rev. Thomas Hunt was a native of Virginia, be- came a pioneer in Jefferson County, Ohio, and was one of the early Presbyterian ministers of that section. He also owned and occupied a farm in Jefferson County and died there at the age of eighty-six. James C. Hunt as a young man learned the trade of silversmith, which he followed until his marriage, and then employed his time at farming and in carpentry. In 1850, with his wife and six chil- dren, he came to Indiana. The entire journey was made with a team and wagon, and he located on the south line of Union Town- ship, trading a horse, wagon and harness for eighty acres of land, the principal improvement on which was a hewed log house with a puncheon floor and a roof covered with boards rived by hand. The house had no chimney, and James C. Hunt fabricated a chim- ney out of mud and sticks. Practically all the land was heavily tim- bered, and it was still a time when wild game, including deer, filled the forest. Only very recently had the first railroad penetrated Elkhart County, the present Lake Shore & Michigan Southern. James C. Hunt employed his industry to good advantage in clearing up the land and he remained on his farm until about 1867, when he sold out and moved to Milford, where he died in October of the same year. James C. Hunt married Margaret Cotner. She was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, a daughter of Jacob and Susanna (Cook) Cotner. She died in July, 1855, leaving eight children whose names were Rebecca, Anthony, Thomas, Martin, Jonathan, Andrew P., Nancy and Casandia.
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